King’s Lynn incinerator campaigner complains over ‘have a happy life’ e-mail from Norfolk County Council cabinet member Cliff Jordan

A senior county councillor insisted he did not mean to be disrespectful tonight after a woman complained she was upset by the tone of an e-mail he had sent her.

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Mr Jordan’s e-mail to Mrs Franklin

Hello Joy Franklin. As I have been very busy I have now sat down to answer my correspondence only to find that when you snapped your fingers yesterday I should have jumped then. In your dreams!

I never got around to answering you as I did not have time, and now I am not going to and I have no intention of answering any enquiry you ever make, rude and badly behaved people I have no time for and that includes you.

Have a happy life, which I doubt you will have.

Anti-incinerator campaigner Joy Franklin e-mailed Cliff Jordan, Norfolk County Council’s cabinet member for efficiency, to query comments he had made about the proposed King’s Lynn incinerator in a local newspaper report.

When Mr Jordan did not respond to her first e-mail, on Tuesday, Mrs Franklin sent the question to every councillor on the authority.

Retired accounts clerk Mrs Franklin, who lives in Lynn, asked whether Mr Jordan believed the town was the wrong site for the plant.

On Wednesday, Mr Jordan replied: “Hello Joy Franklin. As I have been very busy I have now sat down to answer my correspondence only to find that when you snapped your fingers yesterday I should have jumped then. In your dreams!

“I never got around to answering you as I did not have time, and now I am not going to and I have no intention of answering any enquiry you ever make, rude and badly behaved people I have no time for and that includes you.

“Have a happy life, which I doubt you will have.”

Mrs Franklin, 53, said: “I’ve never spoken to the man. I would never speak to anyone like that, I don’t think I deserve it.”

Mrs Franklin has now made a formal complaint to the council.“No-one using a council e-mail address should ever speak to a member of the public like that,” she said.

Norfolk county council’s code of conduct says councillors should always treat people with respect, including members of the public they engage with.

Former Breckland Council leader Mr Jordan, who lives in Dereham, said: “She wrote to me and asked me some questions and I was interviewing a lof of applicants for county farms and I didn’t finish until six that night.

“She forwarded it to everyone. I don’t mean any disrespect to her but she’s rude, that’s the wrong thing to do.

“I don’t mess around and I do tell people like it is. I didn’t mean any disrespect to her but I didn’t like the disrespect she was throwing back at me and I still don’t.”

A county council spokesman said: “Norfolk County Council can confirm that Joy Franklin’s complaint has been received and has been referred to the council’s monitoring officer.”